


Clipped AU One-Shots

by ALOrated



Series: Hamilton Clipped AU [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Anal Sex, Comfort, Cuddling, Fluff, Hickies, M/M, More relationships tags and characters to be added as we go, Nightmares, One Shot, Sharing a Bed, preening
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-02-27 21:19:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13256838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALOrated/pseuds/ALOrated
Summary: One-shots between characters set in the Hamilton Clipped AU, where much of cast are winged beings living in New York City, and the rest are privileged humans.Even in the midst of a battle for equal rights, there are some happier, sweet little moments.





	1. Preening

**Author's Note:**

> A little background for the AU before you read, if you're not familiar with it: Those with wings are referred to as "ezfis," and wear bands on their wings that stop them from being able to fly if necessary. Some are born and raised in the city, while others are brought there from their homelands and tossed into work, education, or sent to auction. Hamilton is from the Caribbean and was brought to NYC and bought by Jefferson, a human.
> 
> [Check out this tag on my Tumblr](https://beeshavethrees.tumblr.com/tagged/Hamilton-Clipped-AU) for more information on the AU, artwork, and various other things. Feel free to ask about the AU or make requests, both here and on Tumblr!  
>  
> 
> [Check out the Clipped AU ask blog!](https://ask-hamilton-clipped-au.tumblr.com/)
> 
>  
> 
> Comments make me happy. I like to talk and respond. :)

Alexander’s face appeared calmer, for once, neutral, as it always was when he was doing…whatever he was currently up to.

“What are you even doing?” Thomas murmured, eyes drifting over his little ezfi.

The hybrid was contorted into a gymnastic position Thomas couldn’t ever even hope to achieve, fingers deftly slipping over each individual feather, running along the edges. From what he could tell, it was a daily ritual, almost, although rarely was Alexander in view of Thomas while doing it.

From his position on the cushioned window seat, the ezfi snapped his chin up, expression solidifying into the already-familiar glare, the kind he fell into when he didn’t want Thomas bothering him, but didn’t want to risk the human’s genuine anger. So, clearly, Alexander had heard him. “Preening. As disgusting as you clearly believe I am, I do take care of my feathers. Otherwise they’ll get all brittle, and icky. All ezfis do it, although of course, you wouldn’t know this, because you’ve got your head stuck up your ass at all times of day.”

Thomas’ response was an annoyed look before he rolled his eyes and turned back around on his swivel chair. He resumed the tap tap tap of his work, fingers humming over the keyboard.

* * *

Alexander was on his stomach, once again preening his feathers. His wings were spread only partially; he was sitting on Thomas’ bed, and opening his wings more would cause him to hit Thomas by accident.

“It doesn’t look like you’re doing much,” Thomas found himself observing, watching as the ezfi ran his fingers over his feathers. “You can’t even see what you’re doing, no matter how many poses you pull.”

“Wow, thanks for the observation. Look, I think I, the one with wings, knows better than the human who didn’t even know what preening is.”

Thomas settled back against the pillows, stacked to allow himself to comfortably sit up. He had been reading a book, while apparently Alexander had grown bored simply laying on the soft blankets.

“I already cleaned my feathers earlier. I’m just making sure they’re all in the right position, though it’s pretty hard with these bands on my wings.” After a pause, Alexander huffed. “It’s nothing special, so stop staring.” The ezfi’s tone held hints of annoyance, although despite the soft sunset light filtering in through the windows, Thomas caught the small blush, the slight redness to his ears. When Thomas didn’t respond, Alexander folded his wings against his spine best he could with the wing-bands on, dropping to the floor and padding off through the open doorway into the tiny, sunroom-esque area he’d claimed as his room.

* * *

“I mean…it’s not necessarily just for…no, no. Just…no.” Alexander sounded miserable, and slowly tried to once again explain his actions in a way Thomas might possibly be able to understand. Thomas considered himself an intelligent person, but his knowledge on some of the more detailed aspects of ezfis was…lacking, to say the least.

“Yes, I guess it does help in getting dust and stuff off our feathers, waterproof them, fluff them up, whatever. But preening is more…well, it’s like a way to keep your feathers all healthy, so that they’re strong during flight, grow back in faster. If you look really closely–and that is not an invite so get that smug face away from my wings–our feathers have…these little barbules on them, that can get unhooked and make the feather all messed up. So I have to go through and make sure all my feathers have edges that are smoothed right, have feathers laid flat, stuff like that.” Alexander stared at Thomas, eyes narrowed in frustration. “There, happy now?”

The human gave a soft hum, thinking. “Did it take you a long time to learn how to do that right? It doesn’t sound like something you’d pick up in a day.”

Alexander looked like he wanted to ram his head into a brick wall. “I didn’t just drop all my baby down at once and suddenly just have all of my flight feathers. It takes a while for them to all grow in. ‘Sides, it’s…” he looked away, and Thomas leaned forward slightly. “My, um…it’s kinda a social thing for ezfis to preen each other, I guess? Although generally it’s only something between really close friends, family, mates. Someone you care about. But it’s just…it’s good, because you’ve got someone else who’s so relaxed at the touches and you’re helping them with a difficult thing–you’ve seen how long I spend on my feathers normally, and my feathers don’t get very messed up most days in the first place–but they don’t need to do any of those weird yoga poses to reach all their feathers. So I learned that way, although I know at least with my mom, she, uh, always had to redo it after I was done, at least at first. Until I got the hang of it.”

The ezfi curled into himself a bit, and Thomas sensed the conversation was over.

* * *

“Hey. Come here, darlin’,” Thomas said softly as he noticed his ezfi making a beeline for the sunroom. They’d been out for a walk–Thomas had wanted to speak with Lafayette in person, and had brought the ezfi along. He’d noticed Alexander fluttering his wings in that half-jerky way he did, movements hindered by the restricting bands, as they walked. Normally, one of the other ezfis that tended to hang around Laf would provide Alexander company, but it’d just been the three of them that night, and his ezfi was left to his own thoughts. It had probably been even worse that Thomas and Lafayette had been speaking privately, without allowing Alexander to quite hear their words.

Alexander froze up, slowly, reluctantly turning to the human before dragging his feet along the floor as he moved over to the sofa tucked against the back wall. Thomas relaxed against an armrest, patting the cushions beside him. “Sit down.”

The ezfi took his sweet time settling in. Thomas motioned for him to turn and face the windows, curtains pulled down, and once Alexander was in place, Thomas quietly asked, “Can I touch your wings? It will only be a moment.”

Clearly, Alexander hadn’t expected that, and he twisted to look to the human. After a long pause, he moved back to looking towards the windows, back hunched a little more than before. “Fine. I don’t care. But rip out even a single feather and you’ll be waking up in a human hospital with a concussion tomorrow.”

A smile tugged at the edges of Thomas’ lips, and he moved to trace his hand along the metallic device connecting the two bands that wrapped around Alexander’s wings, keeping them from bending or spreading quite right. He tapped a button on his armband, pressed it to the device–one that he noted had quite a few scratches, probably from Alexander trying to remove it on his own–and kept it raised until he head a distinctive click.

Alexander jerked, squirming at the sudden relaxed feeling around the bases of his wings. “What…?”

Thomas couldn’t technically remove the wingbands on his own, but he’d discussed the situation with Lafayette, and his suspicions had been confirmed–because he was technically Alexander’s owner, he had access to the ezfi’s files and data. Data which happened to include access to his ezfi’s wingbands; it didn’t take too much work to find a way to temporarily deactivate them. It was only for a short while each time, but…

Alexander shook his wings, flexing the muscles. “You…you turned it off.” Thomas nodded, and while the ezfi was facing away from him, he knew that the hybrid was trying to conceal a smile.

“I can’t keep them off for long, but you complained before about it being difficult to preen with them on, so I figured…”

The ezfi nodded, moving to stand up. “Well. Thanks. I’ll…I’ll just go do that.” He yelped when Thomas grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back down into a sitting position.

“Just enjoy being able to move your wings right now, okay? I’ll make sure the bands are turned off again later, so you can go through and fix my mistakes. But for now….well, you said it yourself, about preening. It’s a difficult task, and it’s even harder with the bands.” Thomas traced the pads of his fingers along the tinier feathers that lined the upper edges of Alexander’s wings, and the ezfi shivered at the strange, unfamiliar contact. “You said it was social, comforting, too. So…relax, and let me do this for you.”

“Alright. But I will be fixing the mess you make of my wings once you’re done here.”

“That’s fine,” Thomas murmured in response.


	2. Tea, the Park, and a Book

Alexander spent a lot of time sitting on the window seat. The ezfi’s wings were spread slightly, and his posture was relaxed, comfortable, as he leaned against the side frame where the glass met the wall. His hair was down and his glasses were seated on the bridge of his nose, allowing him to stare outside into the city skyline and see each little crisp detail.

Thomas almost wished he wouldn’t do that.

He gave Alexander little projects to work on, never anything major for his business as he had true employees for those sorts of things, but enough to usually keep him occupied throughout the days that Thomas was working from home instead of being out somewhere. Sometimes, he’d see more of a spark within the ezfi. It might be from a miniature debate of sorts over a small detail, or Alexander expressing his excitement over his latest bit of work.

Outside of this, however, the ezfi was withdrawn and bristly.

Alexander wasn’t the most forthcoming. Thomas probably should have expected that, when he’d bought the ezfi at auction–Alexander was intelligent, bilingual, but he was also resistive and dangerous, getting himself badly injured time and time again. He’d looked like a mess when Thomas had first purchased him, his mind not quite sure of itself from a dripping mixture of pain and drugs designed to sedate him and lessen the unruly outbursts.

But it was so often that the ezfi–his ezfi–would watch the skies outside, and Thomas couldn’t help but think that he wasn’t just wishing he could stretch his wings. He was wishing that he would never have to see Thomas again, that he could just return to his homeland and his old life.

His ezfi was cooped up, and that was taking its toll.

Thomas sighed, scratched at the back of his neck, banished those negative thoughts away. Alexander clearly stood his presence, but maybe he could make things a little more bearable. Come to think of it, the weather was cool outside, and the big windows let out a lot of heat. For someone from the caribbean, it had to be uncomfortable…

He tapped out a quick message to Sally, an ezfi that was hired help, picking up whatever little housekeeping jobs or errands he needed to do, requesting she make two cups of tea and bring it upstairs. Any kind was fine; he wasn’t sure what Alexander preferred, or if the ezfi had even drank tea before, so there was no reasoning behind getting worked up about things. Confirming she’d received his message, he rose to his feet from where he’d been sitting at his desk, pushing in the swivel chair so that it was tucked neatly under the wood.

Despite the little noises he made, Alexander didn’t turn to look. The ezfi couldn’t be asleep; he still turned his head to watch passing birds, other ezfis, whatever caught his interest outside.

Alright. That was fine.

Thomas slipped out of the room, leaving the door open. If his ezfi wished to, he could always follow. There was no reason for him to remain cooped up in there…

Even straining his ears, he couldn’t catch the noise of soft, light footsteps.

With a sigh, he opened up the linen closet. He’d reorganized it some time ago with Alexander in mind, truthfully; the ezfi was tiny, so he’d moved a few of everything down the lower shelves. Sure, it messed with his organization a bit, but it was easier to make accomodations for the little ezfi than it was to constantly fetch things for him, or deal with the consequences of Alexander attempting to climb the shelves.

There it was. A small, soft blanket; really more of a throw, if he was honest. He’d noticed Alexander liked these the most, often hoarding them for his own bed. Thomas knew better than to try and steal one from there, but this one was clean and smooth. Good enough.

He draped it over one arm when he noticed Sally walking down the hallway towards him. With a thanks, he graciously accepted the two mugs. She nodded, twisting on her heel and slipping back down the hall, light brown wings bobbing as she walked.

Nudging the linen closet door shut with the side of his foot, he headed back into his own room. Nothing appeared to have changed, truthfully; Alexander remained in the same position as before, and Thomas couldn’t help but question if the ezfi had even noticed he’d left at all.

Well. It was now or never; the tea would cool if he waited. So, he strode across the room, planting himself down beside his ezfi. He sat both mugs down on the floor beside them, careful not to knock them over with his leg, and unfolded the blanket, draping it over Alexander’s shoulders.

The ezfi didn’t jump, just slowly turned to look to Thomas, before folding up his wings more and tucking them under the cloth. Clearly, despite wearing what Thomas was fairly sure was his ezfi’s favorite green sweater, he was chilled. Alexander’s gaze drifted back to the clouds after a few moments. “Thanks.”

“I thought you might be a little chilled, sitting up against the glass like that,” Thomas responded, voice soft. “And I had Sally make some tea for the two of us, if you want a little.” He stooped over, picking up the mugs, careful not to spill. He nudged Alexander’s arm, and the ezfi reluctantly took his share. After a long pause, he took a sip of his drink, and Thomas did the same.

“Well? Do you like it?”

Alexander shrugged, gaze distant. “It’s fine.”

“Ah. Alright. Maybe next time we can try something different,” Thomas responded, thrumming his fingertips against the sides of his mug. This…this wasn’t working, wasn’t helping.

At least, that’s what he had assumed. Hence his surprise when Alexander shifted his weight to be draped heavily against Thomas, one wing brushing along his spine. “Yeah, we can do that. Maybe there’s one kind we can agree on.”

Thomas wasn’t going to hide the slight smile that grew across his lips, although he did raise his mug to take another sip before he spoke once more. “Well, if you want to get your jacket on, maybe we can go outside to the park for a bit? Once we get back we can get warmed up with another cup of tea.”

Alexander perked up a bit at the suggestion.. The ezfi’s eyes were a little brighter, and he wasn’t quite as slumped. “Heh. Yeah, sure. I need all the caffeine I can get anyway, if you won’t give me coffee.”

Thomas set his now-empty mug back on the ground and moved to rest his head on Alexander’s, threading a hand through his ezfi’s long hair, enjoying the way the other leaned into his touch. “It’s pretty late, now. By the time we get back, it could be dark. I think the next blend we’ll try will be uncaffeinated. Better for sleeping.”

“You ass,” Alexander growled in response, downing the rest of his own tea before setting his cup next to Thomas’. “Whatever, I’ll go get a jacket. Maybe two, because sitting by the window all day makes it easy to realize how fucking cold it is outside.”

“Hah, alright, darlin’.”

* * *

“Nonono, don’t you dare,” Thomas hummed as he stepped in front of Alexander, who was making a beeline for the window seat. The ezfi jumped back, nearly spilling his tea–uncaffeinated, of course–before huffing in annoyance. Thomas sighed, shaking his head as he pulled his jacket off and draped it over the back of his desk’s swivel chair. “At night having the shades up just makes everything colder. I turned up the heater, but it’s still a bit chilly in here yet.” With that, he pulled down the shade, raising an eyebrow at Alexander’s expression, prompting the ezfi to attempt an explanation.

“I left the door closed to my room.”

Ah. That explained things. He’d had a daybed, small desk, and other such things set up in a little area referred to as the sunroom for his ezfi. It didn’t quite qualify as one, but the large windows covering two of the walls in the cramped room made it feel like one at times. Of course, Alexander never shut the shades–and with the door closed, no heat would get into his room to replace that which was lost. The ezfi’s room was probably far cooler, cold, compared to the rest of Thomas’ home.

Thomas chuckled softly. “Then go open it, and try not to freeze to death.” He set his mug on the bedside table, stripped off his outer layer of clothing, taking a moment to toss the garments into the hamper before clambering into bed. Picking up his cup once more, he reached out for the thin tablet he kept on the table. He could technically use it for a number of things, but for the most part, it was for reading.

Being able to read and write in six languages sure had some advantages, that was for sure. It really expanded his library.

He clutched at his mug when he felt a weight on his bed. Not looking up as he clicked the tablet on, he hummed out, “Yes?”

“My room’s still cold.”

“It takes time to warm up, yes.” Balancing the tablet on his knee, he began scrolling through his library with one hand, taking a sip of his tea with the other.

“Amazingly, I’m aware of that,” Alexander snapped back. Thomas looked up, raising an eyebrow when the ezfi climbed under the blankets beside him. Alexander had dropped his jacket who-knows-where for some unknown reason–he was supposedly cold, after all–and switched from jeans to sweatpants. He was still in his green sweater, but he wore that every chance he had, it seemed; he’d abandoned his glasses, and his hair was pulled back into a sloppy ponytail. As he tried to settle, he had to shift his wings into a more awkward position to mimic how Thomas was sitting, something the latter found a bit amusing, although he wouldn’t admit it. Even while ezfis were generally a bit smaller, their wings were big and clunky. “I’m still cold, though.” He gulped down his tea, making it about halfway through the cup before Thomas nudged him.

Thomas reached out, pulling the ezfi against his side, turning the other so that his wings fell a little more naturally into the sheets behind him. Once Alexander stopped squirming and accepted his fate, Thomas smiled lightly and selected a book from his library, pulling it up. “There. Now you can warm up as I read.” The ezfi was still in his full clothing, but didn’t seem to be too uncomfortable considering he’d dressed as he had specifically to relax, so Thomas let it go.

“Hrmph,” Alexander responded, finishing off his tea. It took several long seconds, but eventually he dropped the annoyed expression and lost the tension from his muscles, resting his head against Thomas’ chest. He rested his hands on the blankets in front of him, holding the mug upright just in case a few extra drops might spill. “At least tilt the screen so I can read it too.”

“Are you sure? I’m in the middle of a book, you probably wouldn’t understand what’s going on…”

“Yes, asshat, I’m sure,” Alexander answered, although the words held no malice as far as Thomas could tell. “So…please?”

“Of course,” Thomas replied. He adjusted his arm, leaving Alexander curled against him, wrapping it around the ezfi’s shoulders and gently settling his fingertips against the other’s collarbone. With his other hand, he balanced the tablet. “Tell me if I’m flipping the pages too fast, alright?”

“Please, I can read faster than you can any day!”

Thomas chuckled, and Alexander nuzzled against him. “If you say so, sweetheart. It’s just good to see you expressing yourself more than when you’re just sitting around.”

“Mrmph. I just liked going to the park, is all. And getting tea. Even if it’s not like coffee,” Alexander mumbled in reply. “And this is nice too, I guess. Just don’t look too much into it. My room’s still probably too cold to sleep in right now.” As if to prove his point, the ezfi shifted his legs under the warm blankets.

“Right, doll. I know.”

If he was looking down at the ezfi instead of scanning the text of his novel, he would have noticed the tips of Alexander’s ears had reddened just slightly, and his already rosy cheeks were a bit pinker than before. “Yeah.”


	3. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of Alexander sobbing after a nightmare and goes to comfort him.

Alexander’s cheeks were wet; his hair had fallen out of its loose ponytail. The ezfi’s wings were pulled as tight to his spine as the wing bands allowed, and he had curled in on himself, knees pulled up, head tucked down.

He’d been having a nightmare.

Thomas was awake; he normally didn’t have many issues sleeping, but if he was awoken in the middle of the night, he found it difficult to fall back into a relaxed slumber. Most of the time, he’d just click on his tablet and read for a bit. Sometimes, he’d turn onto his side and watch out the window, idle thoughts drifting through him with the soft light.

But tonight, he’d found himself straining to hear, unsure of the tiny noises he could pick up. A muffled hiccup, a choked sob. At first, he was unsure of what he was hearing, but now, it was unmistakable.

Alex. No, Alexander. The ezfi had made the naming business clear.

His feet touched the floor, and Thomas shivered slightly as he tossed his blankets aside. The room wasn’t chilly, but he was only wearing boxers, and his sheets had been so warm...

Padding softly across the room, he stood in front of Alexander’s door, hand poised to knock. Another strangled cry, and Thomas found his hand instead twisting the doorknob, softly opening the door and slipping inside.

Alexander was sitting up, blankets thrown away from where he sat, pillows shoved off the bed. One of Thomas’ sweaters, a throw blanket, and a particularly fluffy towel had been abandoned on the floor from where they’d been a part of the ezfi’s little nest of sorts. He didn’t even seem to have noticed Thomas’ entry, didn’t respond when the human sat down beside him, a hand gently moving to his back, between his wings.

“‘M, mm sorry, I-I…” little hiccups, and Alexander fell into a new round of sobbing, no longer even attempting to hush the noises. He shook his head, damp skin glistening in the half-light, and choked out more soft apologies, not to Thomas, but to some entity only he was able to see, shaking all the while.

On more than one occasion during those long nights in which he awoke and could not fall back into rest, Thomas had noticed that Alexander was awake. He always brushed it off as the ezfi choosing, for some reason, to stay up hours past when Thomas headed off to sleep. Now, he couldn’t help but wonder if the ezfi suffered from nightmares, if they kept him from falling into sleep so very often.

Thomas’ hand moved from the ezfi’s back to wrap around his waist, drawing him close. A moment’s pause, and then he slipped his other arm around Alexander, burying his nose into the ezfi’s tangled hair.

They sat like that.

Every now and then, Thomas would move just slightly, rubbing Alexander’s back, gently stroking his hair. And slowly, the ezfi’s sobs softened, he shook less feverently, he only mouthed his pleads and apologies.

And finally, he stopped altogether, sitting curled in on himself. A moment later, he leaned slightly into Thomas’ touch. “‘M so s-sor-”

“None of that, darlin’,” Thomas murmured, pulling his attentions away from softly running his hands through the ezfi’s hair to intertwine their fingers. “None of that.”

“I j-just, I didn’t mean to wake you, I…” Alexander’s breath caught in his throat once more, and Thomas nuzzled against his neck.

“You didn’t, honey, don’t worry,” was his response, but Alexander only shook his head miserably.

During the day, the ezfi was all spines and hard edges. To see him to vulnerable, so scared for a reason Thomas didn’t understand...He sighed, squeezing the ezfi’s hand. “Do you need some space? I won’t stay if you’re not comfortable with it.”

Alexander took a deep breath, let it out, and took another before he answered, damp eyelashes sticking slightly and eyes focused on the floor. “I-I…” he stopped to take another breath, trying to ground himself. “I don’t like you...seeing me this way…”

Thomas nodded, began to pull himself away, when the ezfi pulled himself into the other’s lap, rested his head against Thomas’ shoulder. “B-but...I just…I don’t want to be alone after t-that…”

Thomas found himself a little more self-conscious of the fact they were both half-dressed, but brushed it aside and allowed the ezfi to settle more comfortably against him. “Would you like to talk about...about your nightmare?” At least, he assumed...

There was an elongated silence that stretched for what felt like an eternity before the ezfi shook his head once more. “I can’t, I just can’t, ‘m sorry-” He was cut off when Thomas gently ran a thumb over the ezfi’s lips before dropping his hand and twisting his arms around the ezfi, pulling them to laying down. He was a little tall for the daybed; it was for someone more of Alexander’s size, but that was alright.

“It’s alright, sweetie, don’t worry, I understand.” The ezfi’s wings draped overtop of them, and Thomas fumbled to try and reach the blanket that had been the least tossed across the room, Alexander not doing much to help. Finally succeeding, he pulled it up over them, Alexander squirming to free his wings from the sheets. Thomas chuckled softly at the sight, leaving Alexander to roll his eyes and mumble out “my wings get hot easily.” He still looked small, weakened, but his expression was no longer as fear-ridden as before.

Still, it was hard to ignore the way the way the ezfi fidgeted slightly; they were in close quarters, after all, the daybed not really made to host the two of them. However, after a few moments, Alexander reached up to wipe his cheeks dry and rub his eyes. Then, he moved forward to bury his head against Thomas’ chest, hesitantly putting one arm around the man’s waist.

Taking it as an invitation to stay, Thomas let out a breath and cuddled against the ezfi, resting his head on the other’s. Alexander was dressed similarly to himself – it  _ was _ the middle of the night, after all – and he relaxed into the feeling of the ezfi’s warm, smooth skin against his own. He renewed his grip on the ezfi; with the two of them lying side-by-side, Alexander accidentally being pushed off the bed was a very real possibility. All that Thomas had to worry about was being smushed a little more into the backing portion of the bed.

“T-thanks,” Alexander whispered softly.

“It’s nothing, Alexander-”

“It is something,” the ezfi insisted, words hardly perceptible. Thomas raised an eyebrow, opened his mouth to question Alexander’s words, but the ezfi nuzzled against his throat and there was a stirring of adoration in his chest, cutting off his interrogations at the root.

It didn’t matter what he meant, not tonight. What mattered was that Alexander in sunken in his vulnerability, and while not truly letting him in, the ezfi hadn’t pushed him away. It wasn’t like their first true meeting, the ezfi leaping forward to snap at him, a caged animal. No.

He cared for the ezfi, recognized him as independent and strong, didn’t doubt for a moment that Alexander was every bit as intelligent as Thomas was, if in his own ways. And now, the ezfi seemed to be reciprocating in his own little ways, giving into Thomas from time to time, leading them into thought-provoking, civil conversations…

He was drifting off, now, eyelids heavy. Alexander’s breathing had since levelled out into a slow, deep pattern of inhales and exhales, and he found himself matching the rhythm, gradually relaxing.

It wasn’t long before he had fallen asleep, something almost surprising, and if a tiny portion of his subconsciousness acknowledged the warm stirrings in his heart, the small thought that even if Alexander was supposed to be an ezfi, was supposed to be nothing more than a pet, a companion, he was his own person, with his own feelings, mannerisms, thoughts and opinions, vulnerabilities, and Thomas might just be falling head-over-heels in love.

* * *

 

He woke the next morning gradually, slowly convincing himself to open his eyes and get up. There was a faintly tropical scent, one he vaguely recognized as Alexander’s, and when he finally managed to sit up, he found himself faced with the reason why – he was still in the ezfi’s room. Bed, to be more specific. Somehow, the blanket they had been under was still draped over him, and looking out of one of the windows, he could see that it was still early morning. That was fine, of course; he hadn’t bothered to set an alarm anyway.

He yawned and rubbed his eyes, pausing at the sound of quiet laughter. Snapping his head around, he paused at the sight of Alexander, the ezfi relaxedly sitting backwards on the swivel chair from his desk, dressed in his hoodie and some jeans. His hair was wet and pulled up into a ponytail, and the feathers on his wings looked like they had gotten wet and were only half-dried, slicked down. The ezfi had probably only just gotten out of the shower.

“Mornin’,” Thomas mumbled out, swinging around to plant his feet on the floor, blanket still half-wrapped around him. He blinked sleepily before continuing, “Sorry ‘bout spending the night in here, it just, uh, happened…are you, um, feeling any better…?”

The ezfi shrugged, looking down at his armband and tapping at the screen. He was probably texting someone else – Hercules, a tailor Thomas went to – or possibly John, an ezfi friend of Lafayette. “It’s fine. And...I’m fine too.” After a long moment of silence, he sighed and dropped his hand. “I, uh…” he shut his mouth again, thought for a few seconds, then attempted once more to speak. “I appreciate what you did last night, though. I just...didn’t expect you to hear me.”

Thomas wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, and the ezfi moved to run his hands through his hair, stopping when he remembered he’d pulled it back. He finally just stood up, tossing the blanket back onto the foot of the bed where he noticed Alexander had thrown a few pillows and a sweater. “Well.” He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m going to go take a shower, get into something a little more presentable.” Less of wanting to wear something more presentable and more actually putting on clothing. “Have you eaten yet?”

The ezfi responded with a stupidly snarky grin, playing with the drawstrings on his hoodie. “I got a coffee from Sally.” He nodded to the cup sitting on his desk.

“Of course you did,” was Thomas’ tired response as he walked out, lips curled into a slight smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at 2 AM.


	4. Nobody Needs to Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander's not going to just leave Thomas. But sometimes, he needs a moment to himself to reminisce.

Alexander was probably going to regret this tomorrow morning...but, that was fine.

The time, currently, was approximately one-thirty in the morning. The hour was precisely selected, as he found it was when Thomas was most likely to be asleep. If the human wasn’t...well, he could pass it off as just walking over to the bathroom, or something. He knew Thomas was aware of his...interesting sleeping schedule, but he was just as knowledgeable about the strange habits mirrored in the human.

He craned his neck to look out the window. Light pollution from the city was present, but if he squinted, he liked to imagine that he could see a few stars here and there. It wasn’t the countless pinpoints from his childhood nights, but it was something.

Wind – not quite a gust, but stronger than a breeze – left clouds trailing across the sky, leaving the small stars glimmering as they were passed over, extinguished, and relit once the coverage had passed.

_ Well, alright _ . He snatched a hair elastic from his desk, flipped his head forward to gather up his hair into a high ponytail, and secured it in place. Then came his hoodie, dark and grey, long rips in the back to allow for his wings.

It was clothing built for humans, after all.

Slipping his wings in, he pulled it over his head and arms. He didn’t have his shoes; Thomas insisted on actually  _ using _ the mudroom, and Alexander had eventually given in. Despite that, he had tough feet, had walked miles barefoot.  _ So...good enough _ .

He turned the doorknob slowly, softly pushing open the little door separating his sunroom and Thomas’ room, the latter of the two connecting to the hallway and bathroom. Luckily, the hinges made no noise, and he silently padded forward, pushing the door closed, but not shut, behind him. It was there, poised and tense, that he stopped. His night-vision was...passable, and he squinted, trying to single in on Thomas’ form. There – his breathing was deep, slow, relaxed. He was curled up on his side, facing away from Alexander and towards the curtained window. One leg stuck out of his blankets, which were otherwise bunched up at his chest.

_ Oh, well. That’s what comes when you’re stupidly tall. _ A little more confident, Alexander began to walk across the floor. In seconds, he was at the hallway door. Glancing over his shoulder, he narrowed his eyes, but Thomas hadn’t moved. Deeming it safe, he reached out, pulled the door open, and shut it softly behind him. He could leave the sunroom door cracked slightly, to allow him to slip back in easier, and if Thomas was awake, he likely wouldn’t notice. But air pressure differences could cause the hallway door to swing open if he wasn’t careful, and that could lead to a forceful end to his excursions. The human wasn’t an idiot, and he had money. Not a good combination – it meant that nearly every window was forced shut, not to mention lacking in an easily accessible method of unlocking...something that left Alexander improvising.

Hey, he wasn’t dumb, either.

He trotted down the hallway, allowing himself to make a few small sounds now that there was a barrier separating him and Thomas. Walked down the hallway, light streaming in from the large end window, the staircase to the floor below departing from directly to the right. But the stairs weren’t what he was after. Instead, it was the window.

Thomas held enough foresight to get locks on his windows, but rarely checked for their upkeep and maintenance. Which meant…

He popped open the cover to the tiny control lock, using his pinky finger to wiggle the panel out of place  _ just _ enough that power was cut to the mechanism. A faint smile appeared over him as he dropped the cover back into place before hooking his fingers around the edges of the pane and pushing it upwards. There was no screen, as the hallway window was never expected to be opened on a regular basis.

The wind he’d noticed earlier flew in, made his hair softly toss in its ponytail. The night’s air was cool, and if there had been more clouds present in the sky, Alexander might even had thought it was about to rain. After a few moment’s hesitation, he swung one leg over the window frame, firmly planting his bare foot on the roofing outside. Due to the shape of the building, this window was the easiest to climb out of, having a lower roof just below its frame that provided a platform to walk out onto.

One fully outside, the wind seemed stronger than before, his admittedly oversized hoodie fluttering and whipping around him. Unfazed – this wasn’t the first time he had been out here, after all – he took a few steps to the side, far enough to reach a section that was wider and less steeply-sloped. After a moment, he dropped down, sitting.

Another gust of wind, and Alexander found himself glad he had thought to tie his hair back. He sighed, leaning against the back of the building. There was something about being out here that stirred a flurry of thoughts and feelings inside of him. The fear, and realization of danger. His wings were clamped and banded; if he fell, he would die. Concurrently, the worry that Thomas would find him, would do something...terrible, in that scenario. Alexander was willing to put up a fight, willing to go to great lengths, but a flashback to their first meeting reminded him of the risk in that – Thomas forcing him to the floor, not harming him, but showing that he held the upper hand. What if there was a grander scheme at play, a ruse and front to Thomas that had yet to be dropped?  
He gulped, and shook his head. Despite everything, there was something to being out here on these nights that he almost longed for.

Surely, by now, his wing muscles were weakened and stiff. He hadn’t had the opportunity to fly in what felt like forever, but as he sat on the roof, he found himself slowly, gently spreading his wings are far as the bands would allow him to. Air blew between his feathers, cooled him down further, almost left him feeling lifted up.

The sensations enveloped him, now. Breathing heavily as he flapped his wings, having taken a running start and launched into the air. Catching a thermal and soaring, effortless and graceful. Looking down to see tiny, tiny people what was to him a million miles below. Waving to another ezfi, maybe with black wings, or orange wings, or wings with tiny feathers that formed beautiful, unique patterns.

Diving down, not quite being built for it but distinctly remembering the lurch in his stomach as he entered a free-fall, then throwing his wings open and being yanked back upwards. Dipping low to the waves around Nevis, one hand splashing rainbow droplets into the air. And then, at night, flapping hard over black waters and an endless sky of stars and galaxies.

His memories drifted further back, and he was young again, marvelling over each baby-feather he dropped, squealing at his first flight feather. Running through fields, desperately flapping his wings and leaping into the air, staying aloft another second every day.

But, no good things could last forever. His reminiscences turned foul as other occurrences re-arose. Wings nearly ripped away in one-hundred mile per hour winds. Ostracization, humiliation, loneliness. It was when his mind’s eye drifted to his kidnappers, armed humans that left him bloody and gagged and hurting that he snapped away, finding himself once again on the rooftop, face turned to the few stars he could distinguish.

* * *

 

He wasn’t positive how long he sat there, alone, looking up at the sky, and then eventually turning to look down at the city. Certainly no more than an hour or two, for he refused to risk Thomas waking and finding the open window. And so, it was finally then, before dawn’s light even began to crest over the horizon, when the sky was still as dark as it could be in such a city, that he reluctantly pulled himself over to the window. He stepped inside, slid it shut, and reactivated the control panel. The hallway had cooled slightly due to the entering breeze.

After that, he walked back towards Thomas’ room, slipping inside just as quietly as he came in. After being outside in the slight chill, he almost welcomed the comfortable warmth within.

It was as he was walking back to the sunroom door that Thomas, oblivious as he had been, quietly mumbled something, now rolled over to face the other way. Alexander froze, took a deep breath, then turned to face him. “What?”

The human repeated, voice hoarse and slurred with sleep, “‘Lex…?”

Alexander chose not to correct his name as he usually would, instead responding “Yes?”

“Come ‘n cuddle with me…”

The ezfi sighed, took a few hesitant steps forward before kneeling down on the edge of the human’s bed. Thomas outstretched his arms and Alexander crawled forward to meet him, before letting out an alarmed squeak as Thomas started messing with the edge of his hoodie.

“Don’t...don’t wear a jacket in...in bed…” he yawned.  Alexander just suppressed another sigh and pulled it off over his head, just happy that the human hadn’t commented on the fact he was wearing long pants – albeit not jeans – and a t-shirt, in contrast with his normal sleepwear. In any case, Thomas seemed content, because he readjusted the bedsheet and allowed Alexander under it.

Alexander squirmed for a moment, freeing his wings from under the blanket, before allowing Thomas to pull him in close. The ezfi shivered slightly at the sensation of a gentle exhale against his neck, Thomas’ lips pressing to his collarbone a moment later. Then, the pressure was gone, and Alexander was left wondering if he had imagined it as he snuggled closer and dipped his head. The exhaustion arising from his lack of sleep crept in, and he finally relented, drifting off in the human’s arms.

Thomas didn't know he had been out.

Nobody needed to know.


	5. Fever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander fears many things, but he never mentions them. Storms, abandonment, the power of those that he cannot fight. But as much as he hates to admit it, would never admit it...fever, among all things, drills and churns up old memories in some of the worst ways.

Alexander woke up at the same time he always did. But the difference, the deviation from his daily routine?

He woke up to his alarm buzzing incessantly, and he was fumbling to try and turn it off. Every night he made sure to set one for his armband; it would wake him up without fail if he needed it. But, he had managed to learn without fail that keeping a regular rising time would help him brush away the effects of sleep deprivation, would give him a little time to force himself up before Thomas was awakened.

The issue was that he didn’t require it. He couldn’t force himself to fall asleep, never could, and while waking was slow and groggy, he was always up before his alarm.

And now...goddammit, why couldn’t he just turn the fucking thing off!? He scrabbled at his armband, head feeling as though it were wrapped with cotton and dipped in glue. He finally managed to disband the alarm, groaning, and he allowed his head to fall back onto his bedsheets.

Outside, it was still dark.

* * *

 

When he managed to peel open his eyes again, he batted at his forehead, pain stabbing through it. There was a weight on his shoulder, and he tried to lift up and away from it, his wings feeling heavier than usual and trapped until constricting blankets. And yet, when he tried to kick them off too, it was as though they were wrapping around his limbs and tying him up and holding him down.

“Alex? You alright, darling?” There was that familiar drawl above him, and Alexander would have shaken his head to clear it and try to make more sense of those words if his heady wasn’t so, so heavy. If it didn’t send little knife-point shards right into his skull to jerk heavily and move away.

“I just...must have slept in…” he managed, each breath feeling to be made of thick air. “Sorry to...to have bothered you.”

Thomas’ palm pressed to his forehead, strangely reminiscent of back during their initial meeting, when Thomas had thrown him to the floor and held him down and restrained. Alexander tried to muster up the strength to push him away, Thomas’ face growing more concerned. When he finally pulled away of his own accord, Alexander glared up at him, moving a shaky hand to push himself up into a sitting position. Even the little movement made him whine, and Thomas gently brushed a thumb over his cheek, asking him to wait where he was.

The human returned a moment later, holding something out. Alexander stared down at it confusedly, and Thomas said, “Thermometer. Put it under your tongue; I’m taking your temperature.”

Alexander’s nasty look was accompanied by him snatching the device away and sticking it in his mouth by his own accord. If Thomas thought that he was a little warm, he was being infantile. He was fine, just was tired.

The little device was beeping, and he had to blink and reorient himself when Thomas pulled it away, lips tightened into a thin line. Alexander gulped, his throat dry and the action painful. “What?”

“102.8 degrees. Ezfi bodies naturally run a little warmer than a human’s, but…”

Alexander’s chest tightened, and he quickly shook his head. “I- I think that your thermometer is broken, then. ‘Cause...because I feel just fine.”

“Honey, you don’t,” Thomas responded, hand reaching out to gently push some of Alexander’s hair away from his face. The ezfi almost caught himself leaning into the gesture, enjoying the feeling of heat being pushed away.

Why was the air around him so hot and stuffy? He knew that the room had temperature issues, but he was normally just fine with heat and humidity.

“B-but I can’t be sick!” he spouted out, instead pushing Thomas’ hand away.

The human sighed. “I’ll see if we have any acetaminophen. If not, Sally can pick some up today for you.” Alexander opened his mouth to protest, and Thomas quickly continued, “Sick or not, if you’ve got other symptoms, it may help. For now, could you lay back down for me? Sweetie?”

The panic was undoubtedly showing through his gaze. Thomas must have seen it, must be changing his words to try and fit the situation. Alexander lowered his stare, leaving his eyes half-lidded as he sank back onto the bed. “I’m  _ fine _ , Thomas, God.”

* * *

 

The next time he woke up, the sun was still shining, although the hour was later. Alexander wasn’t hungry, although he had yet to eat.

Thomas was nowhere to be found.

Stifling a groan, he swung his legs to the side, going to stand up. A tiny, involuntary gasp escaped his lips as he wobbled on them, sparks shooting through his knees and black spots covering his vision. He’d stood up too fast after lying down for too long, and one hand whipped out to catch himself on the edge of the mattress.

He stumbled forward, taking tiny steps and wincing. Suddenly, a feeling of nausea overcame him, that shifting, sinking feeling deep in his throat, his mouth sweet and salivating, and he barely managed to make it out into the hall and into the guest bathroom before vomiting into the toilet. He held his hair back with one hand, matted as it was from sleeping for so long.

He gasped for air in between heaves. There was nothing substantial in his stomach to throw up; what he did was painful, acidic.

His eyes widened, he suddenly jerked to look. His legs ached from his position, but he couldn’t sit down. 

Thank the heavens.

There was no black bile. No blood.

He braced himself against the sink as another wave of nausea hit him and then he was doing whatever he could to hold himself together as he vomited again, the taste bitter.

He was panting. He couldn’t do this. Sweat gathering over his body, he tried to take deep breaths between attacks as he eventually fell to dry-heaving and then finally to nothing.

He hated vomiting. Hated it, with the tears gathering and pricking at the corners of his eyes-

_ His eyes _ .

He forced himself away from the toilet, flushed it for the however many-th time, rushed to stand in front of the mirror, holding his eyes wide, trying to focus on the sclera. They should be white. They had to be.

Every child growing up in the Caribbean knew the symptoms by heart. It started off simple enough, a fever, fatigue, a loss of appetite. Nausea, vomiting, headaches.

It might start to improve from there. You might think that you’re going to be okay. And for most, that was true. They would survive. They’d go on to live. But for others…

For others, that hope was only a farce, a sham, a day or two of calm before the storm.

Or rather, the eye of a hurricane.

Because afterwards, it would return ten-fold.

Blood, from your mouth, your  _ eyes _ . Vomit turned black with it. Kidney failure. Delirium, seizures.

Your skin and eyes would turn yellow, as though your body was hardly holding on to life. As you withered away and became the walking dead in a failing sack of flesh. Even the name referenced this well.

_ Yellow fever _ .

His eyes were still white. Of course they were! Of course they were. He’d only been sick since...what, this morning? He still had a few days yet before it happened.

Before he was reduced to a shivering, overheating mess, covered in a sheen of sweat and sitting in his own sick.

His hands dropped, and he could no longer hold back his tears. He couldn’t think rationally, couldn’t do anything but leave his breaths coming in gasps and pants and hiccups.

_ Hiccups. That’s another symptom _ .

Instead of the bathroom, he was back in that little dirty shack. He was choking on his own vomit, unable to breathe, and wrapped up with everything he  _ couldn’t stop hiccuping _ , even as hot blood dripped down his chin and onto his shirt.

His hands gripped at the sink, scrabbling for a hold on the smooth countertop, and then he fell to the tiled floor. Rationality and logic failed him, he couldn’t think straight.

_ He was going to die of the same disease that had killed his mother. _

Nausea grew and tumbled in his stomach and then he was on his knees, head bowed over the toilet, dry-heaving and unable to breathe. Tears, burning his skin more than his vomit, were streaking down his cheeks. His hair was pushed back, but just barely. His wings felt as heavy as stone, limp and lifeless against the flooring, and it was as though they were weighing him down like chains.

No, like the rock of a tombstone.

It was that thought that replayed over and over in his mind as he clenched his hands so hard he left marks in his palms, his vision tunneling, unable to hear anything but a ringing in his ears.

* * *

 

When he came to once more, it was on the bathroom floor. The tiles should have been welcomingly cool, but instead they were strangely warm and uncomfortable.

It was from his body heat, he realized. He was burning up.

A sob escaped his throat and he couldn’t find it within himself to stiffen up and jerk when a hand brushed over the side of his face and neck. It was gentle, the skin soft, wiping away his tears.

Thomas sighed, brushed his hand over Alexander’s side. The ezfi squirmed pitifully, trying to get away, his wing-bands locking down his wings and stopping him from trying to push Thomas back – if he even could, with their dead weight – and the human just brushed the short hairs at his scalp away from his eyes. “Darlin’, please relax, you’re a mess and on the bathroom floor and if you’ve been vomiting we need to get you up and brush your teeth-”

“Get away from me! Or I’ll get you sick, too!” Alexander cried out, voice hoarse, wild, “Please, I can’t hurt you, I’ve already hurt so many people…” His head was rested on Thomas’ lap, and he tried to lift it away. Thomas couldn’t get the fever, too.

“Honey, I won’t get sick, it’ll be fine, okay?” Thomas was repeating himself, trying to break into Alexander’s sickness-addled mind, and Alexander couldn’t make sense of it.

The ezfi’s wings twitched just the slightest as he huffed, tears falling with renewed vigor. “I’ve got it. The fever. I’m going to die.”

“What!? Alex, I don’t understand-”

Alexander couldn’t stop himself now, mumbling, “Yellow fever. This is how it starts. You think you’re gonna be okay. But you won’t. She was taking care of me. Didn’t realize how bad she was, and then she was dying. Covered in blood, skin and bones.”

“Shh, sweetie, no, no, no one is like that, not even you-”

“My  _ mom  _ died from this, and now I’m next!” He screamed out, body simultaneously all too hot and all too cold. He didn’t have the air in his lungs to scream, it was as though someone else altogether spoke, words lifted away. “I got sick, too, but I was alright, but I can’t do it again, can’t…can’t…”

Thomas was on him in a flash, shushing him, pulling him to rest against him and the painted-blue walls. “You can’t have the fever, is what you  _ can’t _ , Alex.” A hand dropped between his wings, but instead of a malicious gesture, it rubbed at his back, the action repetitive, soothing.

“T-that’s not true, I’m going to  _ die _ , if you don’t...if you’re here like this, you’ll get sick like me, a-and…”

Thomas continued his efforts, pressing a finger from his free hand to Alexander’s lips, drawing the ezfi’s gaze upwards through a blur of tears and wet eyelashes. “You can’t fall ill of the same virus twice. You’re going to be alright,” he reassured Alexander, who pressed closer to him in response. “I...I know you feel like shit, but you’re going to be okay. I’ve got some meds right here for when you feel steady enough to take them, m’kay?”

Alexander choked out a “yes” and a nod.

* * *

 

He woke up that night, covered in sweat. Thomas had forced him to drink, take the meds. After a short while, his nausea had subsided enough for him to tentatively take a few bites of dry saltines. And then, he had fallen asleep once more.

He wrinkled his nose at the smell, at the sensation, how he felt sticky and the heat that had settled around him oppressive. His head was pounding, and he found himself scrabbling for his water, thankful it was in a bottle a lid when he pawed at it and drank. Letting out a sigh afterwards, he snapped it shut, leaning back against his pillows.

The door opened. His head jerked up to meet Thomas’ gaze, and if he looked closer, it was almost as though the human’s shoulders sagged in relief when he saw that Alexander was awake.

“Hey, how ya feeling?” he murmured, dropping down onto the bed next to Alexander.

“Like shit, but not as much as before,” he weakly croaked out. Thomas smiled, a faint curling upwards of the corners of his lips, and then he held out the thermometer once more.

Alexander sighed, took it. Thirty seconds later, it beeped, and Thomas pulled it away. “101.5, now. That’s a little better. I’ll get you some more meds, okay? You haven’t vomited any more, we can try some more food in a bit, too.” He moved to rise to his feet.

“Wait-” Alexander started, cut himself off. Pulled his damp-with-sweat t-shirt away from himself, feeling chilled. He didn’t offer more than that, but Thomas took his word and stayed sitting. Finally, Alexander spoke again, “I’m so sorry. For breaking down earlier. I wasn’t feeling good, I was scared, I didn’t want to end up like that again and I was so worried that-”

This time, when he’s cut off, it isn’t of his own accord. This time, it’s from Thomas pulling him into his chest, holding him tight despite the bunched up blankets around Alexander’s knees. “I was worried about  _ you _ , Alexander. You were babbling, sobbing…I’m so sorry that I couldn’t do more.”

The ezfi pulled away from Thomas enough to breathe, escape his warmth, body unable to decide if he was hot or cold. He shook his head, brushed away Thomas’ concerns the best he could, although he had noticed how Thomas had slipped from calling him Alex earlier to Alexander now. How he always seemed to do that, use the little nickname when he didn’t realize it, even when Alexander had snapped and practically frothed at the mouth at first, demanding he be called his full name. 

The human had heard one more little snippet into his past. But he didn’t pry, didn’t force anything more out of Alexander. He just gently helped the ezfi lay down again, softly commanded that he get some more rest, that he would be back with some more medication, and that he would be alright.

“It’s only a little fever, okay? Just a little virus. You’ll be alright. I promise,” Thomas said, and then he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Alexander’s forehead. After that, he fixed up the sheets, took the water bottle to refill it, and headed out of the room, the door left open just a crack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess the one good thing about getting sick is that you won't be falling ill from the same virus twice.


	6. Sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They should hate each other. But in the midst of their fragile peace, the comfort of a warm body on a late night means so much more.

Alexander seemed to have made a habit of claiming Thomas’ bed as his own. Such a thing wasn’t a problem, of course; the ezfi would, at the very least, usually pad off to his own room when Thomas was ready to head to bed.

Thomas wasn’t quite sure when Alexander had decided not to bother leaving every night.

It started off as an accident, for the most part. Thomas was often awake fairly late, usually reading on his tablet. It was a bit of personal down time for himself, relaxing and helping to lull himself to sleep before bleary-eyed, he would put it down and pull the covers over himself. That night, Alexander was still out in his room. Thomas preferred sleeping on the right side of the bed, so the ezfi was sprawled on the left, rhythmically working to preen himself. Perfectly normal.

Thomas was still working his way through yet another chapter when Alexander finished his wings. He was bored, it seemed. By the time his eyes were heavy and he went to put down his tablet, the ezfi had fallen asleep, curled up in the corner of the bed. Quite frankly, Thomas hated to just leave him like that, but with his wings draped over himself, he seemed content. Instead, the human just turned in a way that made him unlikely to kick the ezfi, finally drifting off.

The next morning, Alex was gone – when Thomas found him lounging downstairs, the ezfi said nothing in reference to the previous night, so the human chose not to push the matter.

That was what seemed to kick things off, but they only grew from there. At first, Alexander just explained his actions away with offhanded excuses. His room was too hot, or otherwise cold. His back hurt and Thomas’ bed was bigger. He just wanted to spend some time in a room where he could stretch his wings a little easier. He figured that he might as well spend a little time with Thomas, and that he had just happened fallen asleep each time.

It was Thomas that took things a step further. Alexander had questioned him at that point, initially denying the human’s offer – being that if Alexander was going to be spending every other night beside him, he might as well sleep under the covers. Thomas knew plenty well that the ezfi normally slept in a hollow of blankets, pillows, and whatever else he could get his hands on. Therefore, why should he allow himself to rest underneath nothing but his wings, certainly ruining his posture due to his distinct lack of a pillow?

“Besides, Alexander, I’ve got plenty of room, and I’m sure it’ll be more comfortable for you if you sleep up here with me. But I won’t take any offense if you’d rather not, alright?” His fingers clenched at the bedsheets, anxiety beginning to bloom inside of him, worrying that Alexander would brush him aside.  
And yet, somehow, that seemed to be enough reasoning for Alexander to accept his proposal. Thomas really had meant it when he said he just wanted the ezfi to be comfortable with where he chose to sleep; he took no offense when the ezfi slipped under the covers as far from Thomas as he could be, facing away. There was a quiet pause as the ezfi made himself comfortable before whispering, “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

That was enough to leave Thomas with a faint smile over his lips as he nodded and rolled over to click off the light, worries quelled. The next morning, as expected, Alexander was already gone.

That evening, a relaxed Friday night, he settled down once more. He had just about decided that Alexander wouldn’t be joining him, moving to click off the light, when the ezfi padded into the room and slipped under the covers. Thomas allowed himself a pleased breath as he thrusted the room into darkness, the only light coming from the curtained window. As he settled into the sheets, he noticed how his shadow cast itself over the ezfi’s still form, and it wasn’t too long before he had nodded off.

The nights Alexander chose to sleep in his bed were seemed sporadic enough as it was, and it seemed to be a rule that the ezfi was up before he was, whether to get ready for the day or go off for breakfast or just to be in his own room for a bit. That just seemed to be how he was, and it wasn’t an issue if they had different sleep schedules. Thus, it was a shock for Thomas to wake up of his own accord – it was a Saturday, and they had nothing planned, allowing him to sleep in – to find the ezfi still asleep beside him.

Not only beside him, but comfortably tucked against his body, facing his chest. At first, Thomas didn’t totally register the situation, one arm tucked between them and the other lightly sitting on Alexander’s hip. He let out a soft sound of contentment, almost found himself moving to draw the ezfi in closer, his eyes still shut and breathing still slow.

Alexander woke up only a short while later. Thomas hardly noticed as the ezfi’s breaths quickened, as his wings twitched underneath the blankets, and then Alexander let out a stifled gasp, shoving himself back from Thomas. “Shit.”

In his half-asleep, Thomas let out a soft groan at the sudden movement, the unexpected absence of warmth. Ezfis naturally ran a little warmer than humans did, but he hadn’t realized how comforting it was to feel.

There was a hand, moving gently to brush along his upper arm, accompanied by a shaky voice. “...Thomas?” Mind fuzzy with sleep, Thomas nuzzled closer into his pillow, trying to work up the will to respond.

That seemed to be just what the ezfi was looking for as his weight dipped and moved over the bed and he finally hopped down to the ground with a relieved sigh. As he left the room, Thomas stretched, a slight red flush growing over his cheeks. The bed was still warm next to his body where the ezfi had been resting, and he propped himself on one elbow above it. He hadn’t meant to scare Alexander off, even now as he was yawning and blinking quickly to try and chase away the dregs of sleep.

Fortunately, despite their incident, the ezfi seemed unaffected for the most part. Thomas was busy Sunday, had gone out without Alexander to finish up a few last-minute tasks that the ezfi would almost certainly find horrifically boring. When he finally arrived home, much later in the night than he normally would have preferred, the ezfi was comfortably asleep on the left side of the bed. Thomas stripped down to his underclothes and slipped under the covers beside the ezfi, facing the same direction, but careful to give him space.

That choice likely saved the integrity of his face, considering the next morning he was rudely jerked into wakefulness by the ezfi accidentally smacking him in the face with one wing. He rubbed at his nose while the ezfi yelped out apologies. The human responded by pulling Alexander up against his chest, wings folded flat against him.

Amazingly, the ezfi didn’t squirm away, and when Thomas woke up enough to fully comprehend what had happened, he just buried his face into the ezfi’s neck, right between his wings. Alexander let out a soft sigh.

Eventually, even that became commonplace – waking up in the mornings together. Sometimes, he’d be curled around his ezfi, or find the ezfi pulled against his chest. Other times, the ezfi would have wrapped his arms around Thomas, one wing draped over him. Alexander’s feathers were soft and sleek. There were always nights where they were apart, of course, but that only seemed to make the ones they spent together that much more special.

It was on one such night – Alexander had passed out in his room, it seemed – that he woke up in the early morning hours.  _ Very _ early morning, considering it was still as dark as the city could get outside. The ezfi had clearly been trying to walk silently, stepping lightly as he passed by Thomas’ bed, probably just coming back from the bathroom.

The human rubbed at his eyes, feeling sleep muddling his thoughts as he groaned out a quiet, “Mn? Ale...Alexander…?”

The ezfi froze like a deer in the headlights, and then responded with an almost too-harsh, “What?” If Thomas were more awake, he likely would have taken offense, but instead he just let out a loud yawn, attempting to force his eyes from falling shut once more.

“‘Lex?” He mumbled, voice hoarse from sleep as he shifted under the blankets. It had become so normal to have another warm body sleeping beside him again, something he hadn’t realized he’d missed so much until he felt it once more. After several seconds, his sleep-fuzzed mind realized that Alexander had responded in acknowledgement, and the words tumbled from his lips. “Come ‘n cuddle with me…” It wasn’t meant as a command, but a plea. He wanted the ezfi to lay down. It wasn’t time to be awake.

There was a soft sigh, and then the bed dipped down under the ezfi’s weight. Thomas pushed himself up, feeling cool air wash over his bare skin. When the ezfi moved to settle between his outspread arms, he grumbled and nuzzled into the crook of Alexander’s neck, fiddling with the ezfi’s hoodie. It was scratchy, thick fabric between them. That wasn’t good. Alexander would be too warm, would feel caught up in all the blankets, wouldn’t like being robbed of the sensation of being pressed up against him. “Don’t...don’t wear a jacket in...in bed…” he whispered, looking through his lashes up at the ezfi.

Alexander let out another sigh, pulling it over his head before slipping under the bedsheets against the human. Thomas knew he likely looked like a wreck, eyes sleepy and hair falling over his face in a distinctly unflattering way – but he still found satisfaction in drawing the delicate ezfi up against him, settling down pressed up beside him. There was that gentle warmth he seemed to radiate, that relaxed sensation, and he nosed at the ezfi’s neck where his t-shirt didn’t cover the skin, pressing a feather light kiss against his collarbone. He wanted to do more, wanted to caress the ezfi’s skin, run his fingers over the tiny feathers at the bases of his wings, to do so many other things.

But the ezfi was already breathing softly, curled up and settled in, and even in his tired state he found himself reminded that this was only an arrangement. The physically-affectionate form of a friend with benefits. Brushing that aside, he found that he didn’t care. They were happy like this, and so he would be satisfied.

The next morning, Alexander was sprawled out beside him, and that was enough.

The night after that, when Thomas returned from brushing his teeth, the ezfi had already settled down in his usual spot. When the human propped himself up on a few pillows to read before bed, Alexander scooted over to rest his head on Thomas’ chest.

And from there, it seemed like it was the smallest touches that mattered most. While Thomas’ heart fluttered when Alexander moved to press that much closer to him, his heart pounded and his face was undoubtedly tinted red when he woke up with the ezfi’s lips pressed against the back of his neck, or gentle exhales against his ear.

There always remained that bundle of anxiety in the back of his mind hissing at him – snapping that Alexander surely didn’t feel the same way that he did, that someday, he was going to push things too far and scare the ezfi into reclusion. But he found himself able to ignore it, forcing it away, as he played with the ezfi’s long, flowing hair, or ran his fingers over his wings, watching how the ezfi shivered at the light touches.

His heart sang when Alexander reciprocated all the same, brushing a stray lock of hair away from his eyes, trailing a finger over his jaw.

And to his amazement, one night – late, so late, they’d gotten home long after sunset and fallen into bed right away – Alexander propped himself up on his elbows and planted a single kiss to his cheek. He was already half asleep, couldn’t quite make sense of it, and before he was able to process quite what had happened, question the ezfi, Alexander had wrapped his arms around Thomas and nuzzled into his hair, against the back of his neck.

The next time the ezfi went to kiss his cheek, Thomas turned his head so that it was his lips instead. Alexander let out an embarrassed squeak, flushed face visible even in the low light, but then Thomas was bundling up beside him for the night and that time, it was Alexander who was left speechless.

Their comforts and affections had always been carefully retained to those late nights when they were tired, lonely, looking for someone warm and loving to hold. But when one day came that Alexander pulled him into a deep embrace, soft lips pressing into his neck, he found himself wrapping his arms around the ezfi and holding him close.

And not long after, he returned the favor by brushing Alexander’s hair, pulling it back into a delicate braid that was soon brushed aside to expose his neck as he planted kisses onto the ezfi.

Finally, one evening, the ezfi moved to lay beside him as always when he mustered the courage to make a move. He reached out to Alexander, tipped his head up with one slow movement, and then pulled him into a deep kiss.

The simple fact that Alexander happily reciprocated meant more to him than the act itself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Featuring Thomas' view of the ending scene from "Nobody Needs to Know".


	7. Drowsiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexander doesn't talk about himself, doesn't let much shine through – at least, until he's sleepy and wanting to cuddle.

Thomas was often forced to remind himself of all the things he didn’t know about Alexander. Alex: the ezfi who had lived through the pain of a hundred lives, and yet rarely spoke of his journeys. Someone who seemed to fear nothing, and yet would clam up anytime Thomas nudged him about it.

Quite the contrast, however, was when he was curled up tight beneath the bedsheets.

“You’re from the Caribbean, aren’t you?” Thomas mumbled against the ezfi, running his fingers through the other’s hair. “Is it much different than it was here? Like, the people, the...whatever.”

Alexander leaned his head back to nuzzle into Thomas’ neck, sleepy. “Warm.” The ezfi shifted enough for one wing to bat at the human’s arm for a moment before settling draped over the both of them. Unexpected, perhaps, but surprisingly comfortable; he found himself sinking into the heat radiating from those feathers, enjoying it.

Still, Thomas...did not imagine _himself_ to be anything considered “warm.” Quite frankly, he was _cold_ much of the time, always turning up the heat. At the very least, the ezfi had never complained, so he had figured they agreed on those sorts of issues. “What do you mean by that, darlin’?” he hummed, gently brushing his thumb over Alexander’s lower lip. The ezfi flushed and buried his head into the crook of Thomas’ arm.

“Back home...s’was always warm...never felt the cold before, never saw snow…” he huffed against Thomas’ bare skin, making the other shiver. “You’re not as...as warm as other ezfis are, but you’re still really cozy.”

And dammit, Thomas’ heart was about to _melt_ . He was something, even if he wasn't an ezfi (or similar to one of Alex's previous, unnamed partners). The ezfi shifted again, tugging at the blankets caught around the human’s legs. In response, he carefully tucked the little ezfi against him, making sure not to trap his wings. While Alexander usually kept them folded tight against his back -- even then, they managed to reach from his shoulders to his ankles -- they were _big_. According to the ezfi, somewhere in the range of fifteen to twenty feet big, in fact (the exact size varied from telling to telling, although Alexander detested it when Thomas equated such scenario to dick-measuring contests). Whatever the case, it was likely in his best interests not to go messing them up and pulling them all around. Naturally, Alexander grumbled as he was shifted, but eventually decided their position was acceptable enough to move the wing tossed over them and replace it with an arm slipped around Thomas’ waist.

That hand soothingly rested over the small of his back, and he sighed, resting his head on Alexander’s. Faint light drifted in the window from behind him, tinted a soft purple from the curtains. Even at night, the city around them shone from lights and lamps, and he needed the curtains to sleep. In the idle silence, he found himself beginning to drift off.

“It ‘as quiet, too…”

Thomas blinked, shaking off his drowsiness as he looked down at the body curled against his. “Huh?”

“Really tiny island...not many people there.”

A smile threatened to bloom over Thomas’ lips. Alexander was sleepy, wasn’t thinking about what he was thinking. The offhanded comments sown by tiredness were cute. “Yeah, honey?”

“Yeah...not many friends or family. No one around most of the time. Kinda lonely…No one to listen to you.”

“Aw, I’m sorry-”

“No one to hear you scream for help.”

Thomas’ blood went cold, and he tightened his hold on Alexander, the ezfi pressing closer into him. “What?” Alexander didn’t speak about his past. That was simply...a fact. It wasn’t part of their relationship. The ezfi didn’t tell him where he came from (Thomas had yet to learn even the island’s name), nor whether he had friends or family still alive (he knew that _something --_ maybe even _multiple somethings_ \-- had occurred, but Alexander had never let on what). But this...it was scarily casual, shrugging off trauma. It worried him. “Sweetness?”

“I like that you listen to me,” Alexander choked out, pushing away from Thomas enough to stare up at him. Facing the light as he was, the ezfis eyes glimmered, although it was impossible to tell whether that was from the natural sheen of his eyes or true tears. “You seem too steady to lose.”

“Of course, of course,” he murmured, trailing one finger over the ezfi’s back, resting against the bases of his wings. He didn’t know what Alexander was referring to, and that scared him, but the ezfi was too out of it to provide a certain answer. He wanted to know, _just had_ to understand, all so that he could help the ezfi in the only way he knew how. But he couldn’t ask, and…

His mind’s eye flashed back to himself years before. So confident, quick to find the answer and the solution. Loving, _needing_ to be in control, go faster and take charge until one day it all came to a screeching halt and there was _blood, she was-_

If Alexander would not tell him, he would not push.

“‘M scared...that things aren’t gonna get any better...that nothin’s gonna matter…” The ezfi sniffed, and now Thomas had no doubt in his mind that those were tears.

“Love, I’m sure it’s not-”

“You don’t know what I do. You think you do. But you can’t…I hope I come out on the other side all the same…”

Thoroughly freaked out, Thomas consciously fought his paranoia. Alexander could be cryptic as hell sometimes when he was intentionally avoiding something, and he was _exhausted_ all the same; they had been out and about all day. Instead, possibly like an idiot, he did the one thing he seemed to ever be able to do.

He brushed away tangled, mussed strands of hair away from the ezfi’s eyes, thumbed over high cheeks, and tilted the ezfi’s head up enough to press a tiny peck to his nose before pressing their foreheads together. “Alexander. Please, I trust you. I lo-” No, he couldn’t say that. It was the truth, but he couldn’t utter it aloud. Not yet. “You’ll be okay, sugar. Just try and get some sleep, for me, okay?”

The ezfi pulled away, looking up at him with wide eyes, before allowing them to flutter shut as Thomas was tugged in for a sweet, soft kiss. A little dazed, Thomas set his hand behind Alexander’s head, nipping at his bottom lip for a moment until the other parted them and allowed him to slip his tongue inside. Alexander chuckled between them, muscles tensing, pressing closer to settle his knee in between Thomas’ thighs, wanting to merely be _close, held tight and sweet and loved-_.

Finally, the human pulled back, moving that hand from behind Alexander’s head to stroke his hair, tugging at dark locks. Alexander laughed softly, still drowsy, eyes half-lidded. “Bastard.”

Thomas’ lips quirked into a smile as the ezfi snuggled against his chest. “Yeah. Now go to sleep, okay, honey?”

“Yeah…” Lightly scratching at the back of the ezfi’s neck, Thomas hummed to himself as the other settled into rest. Maybe he wouldn’t think much at all of it tomorrow, tired as he was. That was fine. Then, the ezfi spoke up, “Thomas?”

“Hm…?” he breathed, cupping Alexander’s cheek.

“You gon’...gonna sleep?”

“Mn-hm,” he promised, settling down again. Seemingly content with this answer, the ezfi nuzzled back into him, breathing soon settling out. Heartbeat slow, wings still, the gentle lull in activity drifted him into rest just the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, it's been a while since I last wrote one of these! I'm actually on vacation at the moment, and wanted to chill out in the hotel by writing a one-shot. And so we get a short in which Alexander is flustered, needing kisses, and wanting to sleep.


	8. Relaxation

For what time Thomas had known Alexander, he had seen just about every one of the hard edges the ezfi had to offer. He’d been subject to all of the snark, slammed doors, and angry tears that Alexander could muster, complete with humiliated cries and angry shoves right back.

Thomas had to remind himself often that Alexander came from a very, very different world. It wasn’t just that he was from the Caribbean, although that was certainly part of it -- the culture, the climate, the people who lived there and their livelihoods were all so different than what Thomas knew living in such large cities -- but he was also an _ezfi,_  meaning he had wings, he had energy and a lust to _do_ things. He had ambition that Thomas could never match.

It was the tiny differences Thomas found the most intriguing, however -- how Alexander _advocated_ drinking beer in the shower (apparently his home country, which he _still_ refused to name, had a drinking age of 18 instead of 21 like in the States...but Thomas had a feeling that he had discovered how to lift alcohol from “touristy” shops a bit earlier than that) when Thomas mentioned he found it a strange fad, or how he grumbled over the quality of fruits Thomas bought while out shopping (the human had never found them _that_ bad).

Most recently, Thomas had noticed the sheer amount of care Alexander put into his appearance.

Thomas kept himself well-groomed, in his opinion. He used nice products on his hair, washed his face every night, and graciously applied lotion. But outside of that? He dressed fine, wore a suit when he needed it, but far preferred comfortable clothing that he could walk in, old shoes that fit his feet, and warm sweaters for when it was cold. He ate healthily and made a point to at least walk everyday, if not lifting a few small weights on top of that.

Alexander’s views were similar, but seemed to be shifted just enough to be visible. He stuck his nose up at what he called the “indulgences of the aristocracy,” and yet gasped and accepted the beautiful little trinkets and articles of clothing Thomas offered up, amazed each time that he could look down at himself and say _I’m not a poor, starving orphan anymore, am I?_ And yet, he still made a _point_ of only wearing good clothes he chose for himself, rather than the typical owned-ezfi garb Thomas had suggested earlier on (that hadn’t ended well, oh no...).

Most striking was how he spent so, so long on his feathers, on preening them. And on his hair, brushing it until it was smooth and fluffy, softer than silk. And his looks, shuffling between outfits and postures until he was finally content.

All of that, just to come undone and gasping beneath Thomas’ touch.

* * *

 

Thomas nuzzled into the ezfi’s neck, planting a few final kisses over his pulse point before trailing up to his ear. The ezfi was stripped bare, a sheen of sweat over sweet skin, a sharp contrast to how these encounters usually ended -- the ezfi tried his damndest to be the more dominant one, there was no doubt about that -- but to see him for once subdued and happily spread beneath Thomas was a beautiful, beautiful sight.

Gentle orange light slipped between shut curtains, leaving the room light softly in the evening’s glow. Thomas murmured kind encouragements, telling Alexander -- not a person beneath him but an equal, his love -- that he was so _proud_ to see the ezfi comfortable enough to allow Thomas to top, how _perfect_ his love had been, how much Thomas enjoyed it. With a final peck to the forehead, Thomas pulled out, letting exhaustion overtake him as he flopped down on the bed.

Still, with 200 pounds of Virginian collapsed beside the ezfi (and admittedly, perhaps crushing him just a tad), Alexander rolled over onto his side, nuzzling at Thomas’ shoulder. “You can’t just roll over and go to sleep, you ass.”

“You’ll be joining me, darlin’.”

A scoff, and Thomas craned his neck enough to see Alexander awkwardly sitting up, as if suddenly self-conscious, only now realizing that he was, in fact, completely nude and not very well covered. “I’m gonna go take a shower, actually. And then go pass out in my bed, without the help of your uncourteous self.”

The human was still working up a sarcastic reply when the ezfi hopped out of bed, wincing at sore muscles. Thomas _knew_ how it felt to bottom and had made sure to prep the little ezfi, but it was still Alexander’s first time going all the way in that regard, and he felt a pang of guilt shoot through him. As it was, he was starting to feel sticky and gross from cum and sweat and lube -- maybe getting cleaned up wasn’t such a bad idea. “Alexander, love, I’m getting up, don’t overwork yourself.” The ezfi raised an eyebrow in his direction, stooping down to look for something to cover up with, and Thomas rose from the bed, crossing over to wrap his arms around Alex from behind with a feather-light kiss to the neck. “And even when we’re not actively having sex, I still love the look of your body. Your gorgeous hair-” he ran his fingers through those black locks, caught by the matted knots, then moved his hand down to brush over the little downy hairs on the ezfi’s chest, “-and your strong muscles around your wings and those little sensitive feathers at the bases of them...” he trailed one finger over the tiny, fluffy feathers decorating the ezfi’s back near where his wings began. “And I love seeing you turn into a wreck after sex, but still being so _damn_ attractive, and then getting cleaned up and being just as much of an _angel_ as ever.”

Alexander shivered hard at his little touches, bare skin pressed together, and whined a soft encouragement. Thomas signed, burying his nose into the crook of the ezfi’s neck, covered with red and purple hickies. “I know you prefer to have your own shower all to yourself, but if you want, I’ll clean you up in the master bath and then I’ll draw some water and we can relax and soak for a bit before bed. It _is_ still early in the evening.” The ezfi paused, replied with a hesitant nod, and Thomas took the opportunity to scoop him up and carry him off to master bath.

Alexander had used the guest bathroom from the start, just to have his own space, so most of his soaps were in there. Add to the fact that they had such different hair types, and Thomas didn’t want to risk it; he helped the ezfi situate himself before promising to return, grabbing their clothing off the floor and Alexander’s shampoo and conditioner. When he returned, the ezfi had settled in under the shower head, steam filling the bathroom.

Unfortunately, when Thomas made to climb in beside him, he hissed and redew. “What the _fuck?_  That’s so _hot_.”

“My body temperature’s higher than yours,” the ezfi defended. Thomas hopped in beside him, the ezfi grumbling and shifting to make room as the human knocked a few degrees off the water temperature.

“And my body temperature’s lower than yours. I don’t want to be boiled alive,” he hummed, but his snappy response gained a sweet undertone when he captured Alexander’s lips into a kiss. “Besides, every time you’ve topped before you’ve had the patience to take care of me. I’m not going to leave you hanging out to dry -- I just don’t want to die while doing so.”

The ezfi seemed to concede to such an argument, and so Thomas pulled him close, taking the opportunity to soap the both of them up and wash off the remnants of their previous excursion. Then, he carefully went through to massage shampoo and conditioner Alexander’s scalp, sighing at the slight tropical scent.

However, when left with the ezfis wings, Thomas found himself at a loss. “Alex? Um, how- uh, how do you wash your feathers?” This wasn’t the first time he’d showered with the ezfi, but there was a good difference between shower sex (well, Thomas being the recipient of a quick blow job and then being kicked out so Alexander could shower in peace) and actually cleaning up his boyfriend.

Alexander stood on his tiptoes to press a kiss to Thomas’ cheek. “While I’ll tolerate you preening me, I think I’m gonna keep that bit of self-care to myself.” Thomas blushed the faintest red, but nodded, taking a moment to do his own hair while the ezfi took the opportunity to splash and work his feathers clean. At the very least, Thomas had _tried_ to keep them _somewhat_ clean during the act, knowing how particular the ezfi was about them -- which made sense, considering if they weren’t taken care of, he wouldn’t be able to fly with them.

Once they were both sufficiently cleaned up, Thomas snuck a hand around the ezfi’s waist, stepping on the drain plug and taking the opportunity to pull the ezfi down with him as the tub filled up. Despite the ezfi’s grumblings as he was jostled around, he let Thomas move to add some of his (in the ezfi’s words) “fancy bath shit” to the water.

“Is this okay?” he checked, knowing that Alexander could be a bit particular about getting his wings wet, and was probably strung out a little more than normal considering he’d just been fucked in the ass a short while previously. Still, once Thomas leaned back and settled in once more, the ezfi sank back into Thomas’ arms, the human suddenly _so_ thankful that he’d invested in a much larger bathtub. “Alright, love. Just tell me if you want to get out,” he hummed, taking the opportunity to admire the ezfi’s bare form. Had they just fucked, and then took a shower together? Yes, but now was the time for them to relax, and he was going to use that time to enjoy his boyfriend’s looks even more. “I wasn’t lying, you know,” he purred. “I love how you look, even when you’re not as confident.”

The ezfi scoffed, a red tinting his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “I just don’t see myself as having anything special to offer. Or, at least not the kind of special people want.”

Thomas knew what the ezfi was referring to -- it was a nod to the harsh discrimination in the ezfi’s home country against those like Alexander, ezfis with mixed heritage. Frankly, Thomas had never quite understood the entire situation, found it silly, really, and made a point of making that perfectly clear. “It’s the _exact_ kind of special that I want,” he assured the ezfi, before adding in a teasing tone, “In fact, I don’t believe I’ve ever met an ezfi quite this attractive.” To drive the point home, he lightly swept the pads of his fingers over Alexander’s skin as far as he could reach, moving down from those _lovely_ , dark marks to end just above his groin. “You’re beautiful.”

Alexander sighed, craning his neck to plant a kiss to Thomas’ jawline -- and getting a good view of the own hickies he’d made a point of leaving -- before relaxing into the touches. “Just...this is good. Really good, even. It’s nice to...to feel loved…”

“Always,” Thomas promised, burying his nose into wet hair that smelled of pineapple and mango, holding the ezfi close and never wanting to let him go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alexander's very particular about washing his wings, since he needs to keep them clean, but still have them well-preened and waterproofed. He also knows that Thomas has no experience with any of that, hence why he takes that into his own hands. Even if Thomas knew what he was doing, Alexander was pretty much ready to clean up and collapse, and didn't want to go through that ordeal, much preferring to take things into his own hands nice and quick. The master bath is also much larger and made for multiple people, hence why a taller human and an ezfi with giant wings can fit together without dying!
> 
> Alex usually tops, so when they do switch, Thomas tries to take good care of him afterwards.
> 
> I'm in a mood to write more cute (or smutty) one-shots for this AU; send me requests if you think of some!

**Author's Note:**

> [Here's the official Clipped AU Askblog!](ask-hamilton-clipped-au.tumblr.com) Feel free to ask away!
> 
> [Here's the tag on my Tumblr](https://beeshavethrees.tumblr.com/tagged/Hamilton-Clipped-AU) for more information on the AU, artwork, and various other things.


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